The latest Los Angeles Lakers away defeat to the Phoenix Suns led to a series of criticism in the NBA. Soon after the match, LeBron James complained about the disparity between the two teams’ free-throw attempts. This eventually led to Skip Bayless comparing the 39-year-old’s free throw shooting to Kevin Durant‘s, to shed light on the inequality. His take during the latest episode of UNDISPUTED did not sit too well with the co-host, Keyshawn Johnson, paving the way for an argument.
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Initially, Bayless highlighted the “lifeless and dead-headed” gameplay of the visitors as they gave away 45 points in the first quarter. Following this, the 72-year-old mentioned how the franchise’s talisman LeBron had actively contributed to the misery. The analyst put into focus how the subpar free-throwing shooting of the 20x All-Star resulted in a lack of opportunities for the Lakers over time.
“He’s going to the free throw line yesterday and he makes 1/4…He deserves more calls than he gets but his free-throw shooting is still so pathetic…The narrative is that you’re right at your career average from the free-throw line, and it’s pathetic. It’s 73.5%.”
This stirred a disagreement between the co-hosts of the show as Johnson refused to side with the hypothesis.
“You’re gonna tell me [the refs] reward you, that because you make free throws they’re going to call fouls for you?” he mentioned.
Despite his disbelief over the thin line of reasoning, Bayless stuck with his viewpoint while further elaborating it later on. Describing LBJ as a “lousy free throw shooter”, he stated,
“Kevin Durant gets calls because he is a career 90% free throw shooter…Do you know how terrible it is to shoot 73.5% when you are the all-time leading scorer in the history of the league?”.
Amidst the biased phrasing from the sports columnist, certain parts of his statement hold some weight. James’ lack of effectiveness from the free throw line has backfired his franchises at crucial junctures of the game. Despite being an all-time great scorer, his career-high free throw season average of 78% also fails to justify his era-defining standards. Therefore, this aspect of his gameplay continues to raise question marks over his authority.
Does this hold LeBron James back in the GOAT conversation?
This certainly makes the comparison of Michael Jordan and LeBron James GOAT comparison more interesting. With the King averaging a career free throw percentage of 73.5%, the Black Jesus takes a prominent lead in the conversation. After all, the 6x champion has averaged 83.5% from the free throw line throughout his career.
Yet, this facet of the play often fails to become a defining parameter for judgment in NBA conversations. The enthusiasts will still look to emphasize the championships, scoring titles, MVP awards, and a handful of other aspects of individual accolades. Thus, the unsatisfactory scoring rate of James from the free throw line seemingly doesn’t diminish his greatness.
Still, an improvement on his current free throw conversion will undoubtedly help improve the team’s outcome at times. At the twilight of his journey, the 4x champion is also actively working on it as witnessed in his season free-throw average of 76.8%. The evident perseverance hence remains a driving force of his career while continually defining his legacy.
